Dear Santa...

Police in Marignane, near Marseille in France, had their wish granted after writing to Father Christmas. They wrote to Santa after being told there was not enough money in the town budget to replace their ageing police cars.

The letter read: "Dear Santa, our cars can't handle the job any more. If you think we are exaggerating, you can try out the cars yourself. Even your sleigh is better than one of them."

Local authorities finally dediced to put up the cash to buy new cars after seeing the letter published in a local paper.